I Am A Muslim and I Need to Confess Something

Yes, for those who did not about me. I am proud to be a Muslim. But, based on the last part of the surah A-li’Imraan 3:112 above, Allah said that we have to love the Muslims as much as we love ALLAH. It doesn’t matter who he or she is as long as they are Muslims, we are brother and sisters. First of all, before I start to confess something about Muslims, may this be a reminder to me and to all of you. InsyaAllah.

I feel inspired to write about this when we faced a small problem but need to clarify regarding helping a Muallaf funeral. She was about 70 years old judging from her face and she was a Muslim but not her four children. I forgot her first name but I remember her last name which is Tan. So I will call her Tan. And Muallaf is an Arabic word means when a person from other religion converts to Islam, they are called Muallaf. Frankly, Muallaf is a person who was not born a Muslim.

The story begins when the Muallaf passed away in a foster filled with non-Muslims on 24 Ramadhan 1438. Everybody in the foster house knows that she was a Muslim but did not know how to handle the funeral in Islam way. Thankfully, the person in charge called Hj Hushim who is a member of Perkim to help them handle the Islamic funeral. Hj Hushim was shocked at first when he knew she was a Muallaf who live in non-Muslims community and he only knows about it after she died. BTW, Perkim is a non-government organization to help Muslim around Malaysia especially Muallaf like this case.

Then, they received Tan’s body and brought to Masjid Jamek Ar-Rahimiah to be handle. After that, the guy who was in charge in “Mandi Jenazah” or bathing Tan’s body before shrouding were there doing their great job like usual. I forgot to ask the guy name but I heard they called him Haji Botak because he was bold. After finished “Mandi Jenazah”, we proceed to “Solat Jenazah” after Zohor prayer. At this point, Haji Hushim and Haji Botak had never seen my face before and knew me.

However, we get to know each other after we “solat Jenazah” for Tan and I was praying right beside Haji Hushim, a great man indeed. He asked me after we prayed together, “Are you free?”. “Yes I Am”, I answered confidently. Then, Haji Hushim asked again, “Do you want to help to send Tan to the graveyard at Kubur Kg. Sungai Sireh?”. Two seconds later, “Okay”, I answered. BTW, he asked me to help him because there was not enough person to carry Tan’s body to the graveyard.

Although all of Tan’s children is already an adult, they cannot help much because not even one of them knows how to handle the funeral in Islam way. Because of they are still a non-Muslim, of course, they did not know. So, we, as a Muslim have to help them, to show that we love and care about any Muslim like ALLAH once said in Surah A-li’Imraan 3:112 above. But, the problem is most of us don’t want to. Most of the Muslims, just want to recite the Quran and not even one offer to help. We still lacked one person. This is not a good thing. They were only three of us excluding Haji Hushim because he had an operation on his leg. He cannot lift anything heavy or his leg will hurt so much.

But still, we proceed to the graveyard with the three of us and the driver who is Haji Botak. 20 minutes later, we arrived at Kubur Kg. Sungai Sireh and thank God, a few undertakers are there to help us with Tan’s body. They helped us carry Tan’s body and before we put it in the coffin, the guy opens Tan’s shroud at her face only for their children to look one last time. All of them was crying. A son and three daughters. One of her daughters touch Tan’s face and said a few things in Chinese to her. I did not understand anything so I cannot tell you anything about it.

After finished saying and looking for the last time, the guy who opens the shroud, closed Tan’s shroud back and put her inside the coffin. Then, all of us slowly place the coffin inside the “Liang lahad” or the grave. The Undertaker starts doing its job by filled the grave back with the earth and one more Muslim was brought back to the earth. In Islam, every human was made from the earth, so when we die, we came back to the earth. Back to where we belong.

Finally, before we go, we recite Tahlil for Tan. The main function about Tahlil is, we want to remind us who is still living to remember that deaths await no one. We can die anytime and anywhere. Also, we want to ease Tan answering question from Mungkar dan Nakir. Two angels who will ask a question about Who is Your God? and four other questions. The Tahlil was lead by Imam Nordin who came all the way from Masjid Jamek Ar-Rahimiah with his bike. It was so hot and we were fasting BTW. Thanks to ALLAH, he still came.

After finished Tahlil, all the children went off and waving goodbye at us. Alhamdullilah, all went well. There were only a few problems but still, we managed to handle it with the help of ALLAH.

During this day, I learned a lot about Muslim and Islam that we need to help each of us especially if they are Muallaf. They just convert to Islam and most of them did not know a lot about Islam. So we as a Muslim since birth need to help them. Providing an extra hand wouldn’t hurt you right? Just a little bit of your time and effort. That is all it takes. It is a reminder to me and all of us that if we do this well, ALLAH repays us so much greater good in the next life.

P.S. If you to ask anything or doesn’t understand anything just ask a question in the comment below.